Khaki Lackey

Do you know what the time of possession was in the first versus second halves?

and the run defense would have been better if they weren't on the field nearly the entire half.

So really bad execution from the most important player on the field can't disrupt a game plan? Sure it can. And it did. A team/coach goes as his QB goes, until it's Baker Mayfield, apparently. For the record, I blame Rhule for a lot of things, and I really like Baker as a QB. I think he's going to put a nice year together. I'm pretty much on playoffs or bust as far as Rhule goes.

Well, you obviously didn't read the post, but sure, blame Rhule for the field conditions and inflation while you're at it.

Made the throws? He had like 4 deflected passes and a pick. In the second half, sure.

First of all, I apologize for breaking the 24 hour rule. I'm not usually a thread starter but I've felt the need to post this response too many times, so here we go. If Baker plays halfway decent in the first half, we win that game. His nerves got the best of him, and it showed. For someone who was visibly calm, he didn't play like it. Maybe he's one of those that needs to be fired up to be at his best. I don't know. I know the training camp reps brigade is out in full force, but I have yet to have any of them explain to me how he regressed from the last preseason game to the season opener because of training camp reps. It should also be noted that the two weeks that he regressed, he was getting all the reps with the ones. A lot has been made about establish the run game. It's difficult to do when snaps are muffed and all of your second downs are "and ten" and all of your third downs are "and long." Add in batted down passes, incompletions, and a pick, it makes for a lot of three and outs. Once the team gets behind in score, it becomes even more difficult to establish the run. Which leads to.. A defense that is fragile against the power run being on the field the entire half. The TOP battle was pathetic. It's asking way too much for a defense that is vulnerable. I can't find stats by half but I'd bet the TOP was closer in the second and I'd be very curious to see Cleveland's rush yards in each half. (post if you got 'em) As far as the bad snaps, If you want to blame having Elf out there on Rhule, fair enough. I won't argue with that. Baker's play in the first half affected the entire game plan and had repercussions on both sides of the ball. The good news, second half Baker was awesome and that's who I expect to see the rest of the year.

The team had invested a lot in Sam and he supposedly put in a ton of work in the offseason. With Baker's history of attitude, I don't have a problem making him earn his spot. It went on too long IMO. However, How does he look sharp in the last preseason game and then regress in the two weeks afterwards where he got ALL THE REPS? The answer is that he didn't. His nerves got the best of him and he shat the bed in the first half. Did he get better in the second half because he finally achieved the magical number of reps?

I don’t know man. With an extra 90 seconds, three time outs and the refs doing their best to assist them, I think they could have gotten a TD, but I get your point, I would have wanted 7 there. According to Rhule after the botched snap, the 2nd and 3rd downs were RPOs that Baker decided to R. Supposedly.

The latter. Leftwich will be a disaster as HC

Baker plays halfway decent in the first half and we win that game. You can't blame coaches for bad snaps and batted balls (well, technically you can blame the coaches for having Pat Elflein in uniform) Hey, adjustments were made and Baker righted the ship and put us in a position to win, so hats off to him for that, but he looked like ass in the first half.

Oh hell yeah. Baker totally redeemed himself and if he got that first half out of his system and plays like the second half Baker, he'll do just fine. I'm just of the opinion that the bad snaps, smacked down passes, and bad accuracy of the fist half had a HUGE impact on the game. We were in a lot of 2nd/3rd and long situations, which doesn't help when trying to establish the run. Also the number of three and outs don't help a defense that struggles against the run. Our coaching staff sucks, but the L yesterday was directly related to Baker's 1st half performance.

Explain to me how there were no missed snaps and batted down passes in preseason? How many reps does it take to prevent a 4th year vet from forgetting how to play football in a two seek span?

I'm not defending Rhule. Rhule might be the one thing you're finally right about, so congrats. Baker's play was total cheeks in the first half now matter how many excuses you make for him, and training camp reps were not the reason.

I have to agree. If Rhule goes, Fitt should go too. A new GM should pick the new coach. They would both inherit a halfway decent roster, so it wouldn't be a total burndown.

Here's one of them. He got enough reps to look really good in the last preseason game (plus two more weeks worth since.) So you tell me, how many reps does a 4th year vet need to handle a snap and not get multiple passes batted down? You just want to be right about something that can't be quantified. Baker totally shat the bed in the first half. I don't think a few more training camp reps would have helped that. You obviously do, but I would pick something a little less subjective to act smug about if I were you.

For a smaller faster defense that doesn’t match up great with power run, I thought they did a decent job considering they were on the field way too much. What is surprising is how awful the vaunted secondary was when we finally forced them to throw it.

I don’t know what’s correct, but I do know that this is in Fiz’s wheelhouse. I wouldn’t bet on him being wrong.

Playing not to lose gets you .500 Both of them are content being .500 coaches.

McDermott's second year was 6-10. They built a winning team in 3 years and a SB contender in 5.

If Garrett is pals with OBJ, I’m sure he’s one of those that enjoys petty drama. Enjoy Gropey McRubandtug.

Why they put a ball hitch on it, I have no idea, but I knew it was a bad idea.

Yeah, I had high hopes that Bozeman would be the reason we never heard Elflein's name called. Of course, I had hoped never to hear the name P.J. Walker again either.

Yeah, I know what the huddle hive-mind thinks, but has anyone actually seen or reported Bozeman looking significantly better in preseason this year?

I only recall hearing Bozeman being mentioned specifically one time during preseason coverage and it wasn't great. Did I miss something or is the "Bozeman is the second coming of Ryan Kalil" just huddle lore?

Speaking of legends of corners past, I wonder what Josh “Bullet Head” Thomas is up to nowadays.